A mortice lock assembly is one form of lock assembly that is located in a mortice cavity formed in a side edge of a door. Where the door edge has limited depth to form the mortice cavity, a mortice lock assembly with a housing having a short depth (referred to as a short backset mortice lock assembly) may be the only option for that can fit in the cavity. However this type of housing will have less space within which the elements of the lock assembly can operate than a standard backset lock assembly.
The elements of the mortice lock will generally include a bolt moveable relative to the housing, an actuator which is operable to move the bolt and a lock means for controlling operation of the actuator and/or movement of the bolt. The lock means may include a detent that slides relative to the housing for adjustment of the condition of the lock between a locked condition and a release condition. Adjustment of the detent can be as a result of operation the cylinder lock, or more specifically rotation of the cam of a cylinder lock.
The door may be installed for left hand opening or right hand opening depending upon the configuration of the entrance. The mortice lock will generally have a preferred orientation regardless of whether the door is left hand opening or right hand opening. This may include orienting of the cylinder lock always above, or always below the actuator handle. Where the mortice lock includes a hook bolt, the preferred orientation may be so that the hook bolt always swings up to a latch position. Furthermore it is generally preferred that the orientation allow for any pin tumblers in the cylinder lock to be located above the barrel. This allows the springs of the cylinder lock to work in conjunction with gravity on the pin tumblers rather than against gravity. Accordingly it is preferred to pivot the mortice lock assembly about a vertical axis when adjusting for installation between either a right hand opening or a left hand opening door.
A reference herein to a patent document or other matter which is given as prior art is not to be taken as an admission that that document or matter was, in Australia, known or that the information it contains was part of the common general knowledge as at the priority date of any of the claims.